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Why small dogs are perceived to be dumber than big dogs

The spacing of the eyes in a dog’s head and the way they see and then follow human cues can make bigger dogs seem more intelligent than smaller dogs.

“So far, I am not convinced that dog breeds do differ in actual intelligence," says the author of a new study. "They do differ in shape, and shape makes a difference for many physical capacities and abilities,” (Shutterstock photo illustration)

By Debra BlackStaff Reporter

Thu., Sept. 2, 2010

Bigger dogs aren’t necessarily smarter than little dogs, they’re just perceived by people to be smarter, according to a study done by a New Zealand researcher published in the September issue of Behavioural Processes.

Dog intelligence may seem an odd topic for a professor who teaches ergonomics – the study of work and workers – at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, to tackle.

But William Helton, the author of the study, doesn’t see it that way. His interest in human work has led him to look at how dogs perform work to help humans.

He hopes people will understand better what dogs can and are able to do; perhaps then they could be used to make an even bigger contribution to people’s lives.

In his most recent study, he thinks he may have come up with the reason why so many people perceive larger dogs as smarter.

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“There is a lot of mythology regarding differences amongst dog breeds, and dogs generally,” Helton said in an email interview with the Star.

“What I do see is breed differences in some abilities, and these differences appear to be heavily influenced by the physical-shape differences you see between breeds.”

Those differences have translated into people perceiving certain dogs as more intelligent than others, Helton explained.

“Our research would suggest that medium- (slightly large-) sized dogs are perceived to be the most trainable or intelligent generally. This is because they probably are the easiest to actually train physically.

“Really small dogs are hard to train. . . Really big dogs on the other hand are really hard to physically handle. . . Hence medium dogs, the Goldilocks’ dog, are seen as being the most intelligent. This does not mean they actually are the most intelligent, they are just perceived to be.”

One of the reasons for that perception may be the spacing of the eyes in a dog’s head and the way they see and then follow human cues, said Helton.

In analyzing data from a previous study done at another lab, Helton and his colleagues found that larger dogs were better at reading and executing a human pointing cue.

“If two eyes are spaced apart, they provide slightly different information about the thing you are looking at,” explained Helton. “As the two eyes get closer together, the advantage starts to disappear. At the very limit, they eventually become one eye.”

But, he added, part of the disadvantage of closely spaced eyes in small dogs may be compensated for by increased ocular overlap, or having the eyes more forward-facing.

“So far, I am not convinced that dog breeds do differ in actual intelligence (problem-solving capability, learning rates); they do differ in shape, and shape makes a difference for many physical capacities and abilities,” Helton wrote in his email.

“These may look like intelligence, or bias someone towards thinking some breed is more intelligent than another, but the difference is a result of physical-shape differences, not inherent intellectual or cognitive capacity.”

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